PRO FOOTBALL; An Injured Testaverde Is Mentor For Lucas

Bill Parcells and Vinny Testaverde are two of the more superstitious people in the world of professional football. If they think something brings good luck, there's no way they'll discard it.

And for that reason alone, Testaverde will again be manning the sideline this Sunday, whispering in Ray Lucas's ear and trying to nudge him toward victory against the Buffalo Bills, just as he did on Monday night in the victory over the New England Patriots in Foxboro, Mass.

In the New England game, which the Jets won, 24-17, Parcells went against his own belief that you do not take an injured player on the road and that you certainly do not let him wear a set of earphones that connects him to the assistant coaches in the press box. Nor do you let him take on the unusual job of baby-sitting the baby quarterback.

But Testaverde, out for the season with a torn Achilles' tendon and only recently moving around without his crutches, did all that.

Lucas said he welcomes the presence of Testaverde, who has become something of a mentor to a quarterback who is essentially learning on the job. And although Lucas is no mini-Vinny -- he would not, for example, dream of spending an entire game in the pocket -- he has tried to absorb some of the mental aspects of the game from his veteran teammate.

''The dialogue between them is different than between a coach and quarterback,'' Parcells said today in explaining his approval of this new arrangement. ''Vinny's not out there coaching him. He's trying to be guiding, nurturing. I yelled at Ray after his first series. I told him, 'You've got ants in your pants. Just settle down.' ''

Lucas said of Testaverde's guidance on Monday night, ''Just his presence alone -- it was like he was playing through me sometimes.''

He recalled a moment in the Patriots game when he had just been intercepted for a second time. It was at that point that Testaverde, whose early career was replete with interceptions, had a simple piece of advice for Lucas: ''Don't worry.''

Lucas said: ''When we got the ball back, he was saying, 'Clock management now. You've got to make sure you get the snaps under five seconds every time and make them use their timeouts.' ''

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Actually, Lucas was working the clock so well that a few snaps came with only a second remaining before it would have become a delay-of-game penalty.

As the game moved through the fourth quarter, as the Patriots drew closer, Testaverde continued to soothe him, Lucas said. ''He was saying, 'You don't have to press to make a play. Don't try to make a big play. They're still losing; we're still winning.' ''

All of this tender talk, Lucas said, ''put my mind at ease.''

''You've got somebody there with all that experience. He's been to the Pro Bowl. He was coaching me on the sidelines.''

And yet, Parcells was not wild about the idea at first. ''Vinny begged me to go on the trip,'' said Parcells. ''So me, being a jerk, I said, 'Can you help us win?' I said, 'What do you want to do -- talk to Boomer Esiason before the game?' ''

Parcells hinted that Lucas and Testaverde had joined forces in advance to convince the coach to go along with the unusual request.

''I don't know if Ray did,'' Parcells said, ''but I'm the villain in the story. I usually don't do that. It can only be a problem. As it turned out, I think it helped.''

And will he do it again?

''Yeah,'' Parcells replied. ''We're both superstitious.''

EXTRA POINTS

The Jets have been going to a 4-3 defensive front to get more quarterback pressure, but that hasn't hampered MARVIN JONES's performance at linebacker. He has played solid back-to-back games, and recorded his first career sack, which came against DREW BLEDSOE, and first interception of the season. He admits returning from last year's layoff after knee surgery took a long time. ''After four or five games, I started making plays again and my confidence level really started to soar,'' he said.

JUMBO ELLIOTT practiced at his left tackle spot despite ongoing back problems. But he shared the position with IAN RAFFERTY, the newly acquired rookie. ''It's a little hard to tell now about Jumbo,'' said BILL PARCELLS, ''but we'll see.'' While Parcells is worried about the state of the line, his worries could evaporate by game time. ''If Jumbo can do a good job, then we'll be O.K.,'' said Parcells. ''But if our two starting tackles are out, then you've got a problem. I don't care how good the replacements are.''